I spent a blissful weekend with my Mum and Cousin in London browsing the National Portrait Gallery, dining in a gourmet restaurant and taking in a show

London is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom, it stands on the river Thames, on the South East of the Island of Great Britain.  A leading global city in the arts, commerce, culture, entertainment, education, fashion, research and development, tourism and transportation, it is the world’s most visited city and has the world’s largest airport system according to statistics.  London became the first city to have hosted the modern summer Olympic Games three times.

On our first evening we dined at Langan’s Brasserie, situated on Strattan Street, Mayfair, it was opened up by Peter Langan in partnership with Michael Caine in 1976, and is one of the most popular restaurants in London, attracting major celebrities from all over the world.

A brief history of Langan’s Brasserie

Born in Ireland in 1941, Peter Langan moved to England in the 1960’s and began a career in catering at Odin’s, 26 Devonshire Street.  When his proprietor James Benson died in 1966, Peter took over for his wife Kirsten.  He transformed Odin’s, and after purchasing Benson’s share, Peter created an even bigger restaurant, which became an instant success.  We ate the finest veal with dauphinoise potatoes and petite pois on the side, washed down with a delicious bottle of Rioja, and our waiter hovered close by, never failing to top up our glasses.

We spent an afternoon watching Thriller in the Lyric Theatre, a class act with plenty of professional dancing and singing to Michael Jackson hits.  Michael Jackson’s song Thriller was listed as the biggest selling album of all times in the Guinness Book of Records.  Michael was the first artist in the history of music to generate six number one singles from one album, BAD.  The performers on stage were simply spectacular and I couldn’t help but sing along to all the songs.

We spent two nights in London, dining in a premium restaurant, seeing a show and browsing the National Portrait Gallery.  Situated in Trafalgar Square, the art gallery opened in 1856, and houses a collection of portraits of important and famous British people.  The very first portrait to enter the NPG is Chandos portrait of William Shakespeare.  We viewed the sculpture of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in medieval costume, along with many other paintings in the Victorian era.  Along with Victorian portraits we also saw the Tudor portraits of King Henry VII, King Henry VIII and some beautiful paintings of his six wives along with the greatest detail of Queen Elizabeth I ensembles.

London is a great city and with so much to see and do, we just keep coming back.

For more information on flights log on to www.aerlingus.com

For more information on Thriller and other musicals log on to www.londonmusicals.ie

For more information on the National Portrait Gallery log on to www.npg.org.uk